Forever Young Birth Of A Nation (84 page)

“I’ll face him any time anywhere.”

“You’ll do no such thing if you value your
head. He fights like a devil and besides, I am getting used to you
being around.” she said as she stretched and pulled him down a bit
so as to peck him on his cheek.

“There is more to this being a vampire than
I thought. I figured that since we are stronger, we can always just
take what we need.”

“Johnny, we have to blend in so as not to
always have to be moving or running away from our misdeeds. A
successful
Adept
vampire lives a life of ease among humans,
not in hiding. Consider it like a game we play to deceive all
around us. I think it is deliciously fun to walk among them,
unsuspected. We’ll find a place and a trade and bide our time. An
opportunity will come our way. A lot of people are saying that
America is the land of opportunity.”

“I’ll learn a trade then Yvonne, no matter
how boring it is.”

Laughing then she snuggled closer to him as
they turned a corner to walk through a short but empty alleyway.
Sliding her hand down into his pocket while pretending to be
walking along, she knowingly began to caress his groin area as she
said “No matter how boring your new trade is, I will make sure that
your nights are never boring.”

“My God, Yvonne but you are a vixen!”

“Aren’t I though!” she said with a chuckle
as he gasped.

“Oh Ian, I really do like this house. It is
so big! We can have all of the others stay as long as they
want.”

“Stu and Rebecca want to move in to the
tenant house out back.”

“Well that just means we have seven extra
bedrooms instead of six. If any of our family comes to America,
we’ll have room for them too.”

Drawing her close he kissed her and said “I
want you to go through it and furnish it any way that pleases
you.”

“Well, really I like a lot of the
furnishings as they are, but I do want to change the parlor and
drawing room. Won’t that be fun?”

“Ah, Cosette… I would just as well that you
do that completely on your own, but I will come along if I
must.”

“Oh honestly, Ian!” she laughed “You are
just like Henri and Li. None of you men care a bit about
furnishings. No matter. Sophia and Prissy will help me.”

Laughing then he said “Thank the good Lord
above for those two! Seriously though, I am looking at the only
furnishing that I care about in the whole world. This place would
just be a big fancy box without you.”

“Mmmm… you always know just what to say” she
said with a smile as she kissed him.

Pulling back from her, he said “I bought it
through a trust that James and I set up. If June Stedman or anyone
else gets curious about who owns her former home, all that they
will learn is that a land trust company in Boston is holding it
anonymously. It will look like it is just another example of
property speculation.”

“What about that adjoining land?”

“It is a ninety three acre plot and our
trust is going to buy it too, as well as an adjoining plot to that
one which fronts some seven hundred feet on the Hudson. All told
we’ll have one hundred twenty three acres.”

She came to him then, putting her arms about
him and kissing him tenderly saying “You banking types think of
everything.”

His eyes beginning to glow softly he scooped
her up and said “I even picked out a room for us so let’s go and
try it while no one else is here.” At that he bounded to the base
of the staircase and then to the top in one leap as she shrieked
with laughter.

They made love then. It was urgent, hot and
passionate and afterward she took his hand and kissed it softly,
holding it to her lips. He felt a lump rise in his throat as he
recalled how Moon Owl always did that, yet it was not sorrowful at
all. It was sweet, and he cherished it. Gently stroking her hair he
said “I am so happy, Cosette. The way we can be together like this,
it is as if we were never apart. I am grateful for that and for how
you have been so understanding about my situation. I love you so
much.”

“Mmmm… I never get tired of hearing that.”
she said as she kissed his hand.

“Do you think Rebecca and Stuart will want
to be married here or at her church?”

“Probably her church if I had to guess. We
can have the celebration here. Won’t that be wonderful?”

“It is all wonderful really, but the best
part is that you are a part of it all. I still sometimes have to
pinch myself to be sure I am not dreaming this all. I mean, it is
so unbelievable the way you have come back to me and all. It is a
miracle. What a bizarre life I have led!”

Laughing then she said “Bizarre? Hah! Did
you sleep under a pile of rocks for six years?”

At that they both laughed raucously, as they
hugged each other.

***

Stuart and Rebecca were married in her
church along with Priscilla and Oliver and the celebration was at
Ian and Cosette’s home. Scarcely two weeks later Laura and Lucas
Ross were married at the same church and the celebration was at the
Millhouse home. The two leased James and Melissa’s old place, being
as those two moved to Boston to start up the new bank there, taking
Charlotte with them. Ian and Cosette were there with them for a
while to secure a new site and see to the start of
construction.

The bank in Manhattan was doing well, but
dealt only in gold, silver, or British currency, unless real estate
and or title to an established business was used to secure a loan.
James had come to the New York City area to help Ian retrieve the
startup funds from the area cemeteries. It was understood that they
would do the same thing in Boston when the bank there was ready to
open.

Cosette, Priscilla, and Oliver all worked at
the Manhattan bank and eventually Cosette was left in charge of it
while Ian traveled to Boston to help James dig up the startup funds
buried in area cemeteries there. After the bank opened, Ian stayed
a week longer and then returned to Manhattan to begin the process
of hiring. There were only two tellers in the beginning and
business was light but steady as construction in Manhattan began to
increase. As agreed the British would occupy Ft. Detroit until
1798, but they pulled out of New York City in 1783 after
accommodating all Tory loyalists who wanted to return to Britain.
Some desirable properties sold for low prices in those days
throughout the colonies.

The northern colonies gained massive amounts
of land in the settlement, boundaries being expanded northward and
westward to include the St Lawrence River and all of the way to the
centers of the five great lakes. This happened mainly because
Benjamin Franklin was intent on having Britain concede all of
Canada, which they refused to do. Due to his insistence, there was
no amnesty allowed or recognized for Tory loyalists. The massive
expansion of the northern colonies was the result of Franklin’s
shrewd negotiations regarding the treaty of Paris.

Meat, ale, poultry, and produce consumption
plummeted for a while with over ten thousand British military
personnel gone, but imports and exports began to increase greatly
as the fledgling confederation began to thrive. All of Europe was
anxious to sell finished goods to the new Confederation and eager
to buy raw materials as well as fish, tobacco and cotton. Finished
goods flooded in and the Port of New York City and other coastal
ports began to bank a growing amount of funds from duties collected
as consumers began to be able to buy things not previously seen in
America.

The office of Sheriff had been formerly
appointed by the British High Command since the occupation. Being
as the sheriff was known to be a Tory loyalist, the position was
going to be filled by a general election. Ian bought a controlling
interest in the local newspaper, which had really only been a Tory
mouthpiece, and had been sold cheaply so that its former Tory
owners could return to England.

In two days, the newspaper began to tout the
virtues of Inspector Lucas Ross and he began to campaign for the
office of Sheriff of New York City. Being well-liked by his fellow
deputies for the most part, he had only to be properly presented to
the public, which Oliver began to do as a director of his
campaign.

He was elected and at his new salary, he
bought the cottage he and Laura were renting, with an adjacent
parcel of land of some six acres. The Millhouses hosted a
celebratory dinner for him and Laura after he was elected. At the
dinner Ian presented him with a top-quality twin shoulder holster
arrangement with two pocket pistols, each bearing his name and the
date of his swearing in ceremony.

One day Ian and Cosette left the bank and
took their carriage to the waterfront area, scouting around for any
low-priced Tory owned businesses for sale. Ian happened to glance
out in the harbor, and there riding at anchor was Elsie’s
Cloud
.

“By Heaven Cosette! Look yonder in the
harbor, over there!” Following where he pointed, she threw her
hands up to her mouth and gasped, saying “I cannot believe it! Oh
this is wonderful, Ian!”

“I wish it was dark so we could just jump in
the water and swim out to her! Let’s get down to the wharf and see
if we can find them!”

They ran into Angus and Mark McCarr as they
were leaving Customs House. Ian ran to Angus and the two gave each
other mighty bear hugs, each grabbing the other by his shoulders
then and grinning at one another while McCarr bowed in courtly
fashion and kissed Cosette’s hand. Then Ian turned to McCarr and
each gave the other a mighty bear hug, the result being that McCarr
grunted a bit in pain, saying “By Heaven, Ian, you are still as
strong as a horse!”

“Ah Uncle Angus, Mark, the two of ye are a
sight for sore eyes. When did ye get in?” he asked, not realizing
that he had lapsed into his old Scottish accent.

“Not two hours ago.”

“Who else came? Armando? Gunny? Stu?
Rob?”

Laughing then, Angus said “Hop in our
longboat and come see for yourself, both of you.” MacCarr said “By
Heaven Ian, you have not aged one bit. I swear you look like you
are twenty three and Cosette, you look like you are still
twenty!”

Laughing her husky laugh, Cosette said
“Mark, you should move to New York City and maybe you will age as
slow as we do. Some people swear it is the drinking water
hereabouts that causes it.” MacCarr looked at her in astonishment
for a few seconds and then burst out laughing. Cosette looked
privily toward Ian and allowed her eyes to glow for a second as she
winked at him.

Ian laughed heartily as he looked at her
then, thinking
by Heaven, she still takes my breath away! How
blessed am I to have her for my wife!

In short order Angus and Mark knew that
Stuart was married and that they were all going to be staying at
Ian and Cosette’s new home, as well as quite a bit of both of their
adventures since they had come to America.

Soon they were being hoisted aboard via the
cargo booms and nets. Ian had no sooner gotten Cosette and himself
free than he heard a pixie voice shout “Ian! Ian! Cosette!” Turning
with disbelief he saw a small figure running toward him, golden
colored hair streaming behind her as she threw herself into his
arms, smothering his face with kisses. “Aimee! Aimee! Oh my Lord
Aimee, is it really you?” he cried in joy as she continued to kiss
him non-stop.

Hearing his name once again he turned just
in time to see his mother Elsie and his Aunt Mary coming his way,
arms wide, laughing. Little Aimee reached out to Cosette who took
her as she and Cosette began to kiss each other non-stop, weeping
and laughing for joy. They laughingly came together then, with Ian
kissing and lifting first his mother and then his aunt off of their
feet and whirling them around like they were rag dolls while
laughing at the same time. Cosette was embracing and kissing both
of them too as everyone tried to talk at once.

“Oh but this is a bonny fine turn of events,
isn’t it Cosette?”

She was still holding Aimee while laughing
and crying for joy herself. “Yes! Oh yes it is a bonny fine turn of
events!” she said, mocking Ian’s accent as the others laughed
heartily. Little Aimee then reached out so Ian swung her to his
shoulders where she put on his hat as others approached, calling
his name.

Ian embraced Armando, Rob MacGregor, Rob
Woolsey, and old Gunny who was laughing out loud, a rare thing for
him. They toured the ship then, Ian touching various fittings,
pausing at the helm as an avalanche of memories crowded into his
mind in a non-stop montage.

He noticed every repair made as he walked
about her, realizing then how much even the ship herself meant to
him, and not only the people aboard her.

A bit later the long boat took them ashore,
making two trips to account for luggage. After Ian had hailed two
carriages they all accompanied Ian as he bought food for their
pantry as well as fixings for several fancy dinners. Then the
caravan of three carriages had made its way to Ian and Cosette’s
home. The guests were shown their rooms then and soon Cosette,
Sophia, Priscilla, Rebecca, Mary, and Elsie were all in the
cavernous kitchen putting together a sumptuous meal for all, as Ian
showed Angus and his former shipmates around the place with Aimee
perched atop his shoulders. When Aimee was not atop Ian’s
shoulders, she was riding atop Li’s shoulders.

Later, everyone having seen the house, they
all sat down to eat and the seventeen of them fairly filled the
dining room. It was a long and leisurely meal then, with endless
questions from both sides, but there were a lot of questions from
the visitors concerning the war and Ian’s role in it. Priscilla and
Oliver again noted with some envy and astonishment the varieties of
human food the other vampires could consume with no problem. Upon
talking about the event later the two both realized truly the
difference in the limitations of their imprinting compared to that
of their new friends.